


A Mother's Tears

by VictoriaEllis



Series: We Never Close [4]
Category: CSI: Miami
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, Gen, Slow Build, Speed is alive
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-13
Updated: 2019-07-01
Packaged: 2020-03-02 14:26:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,250
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18812764
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VictoriaEllis/pseuds/VictoriaEllis
Summary: When Ryan doesn't Show up to testify in court, the Team is left to solve a Kidnapping of one of their own.





	1. Part I

**Author's Note:**

> So... Due to a mishap on my side, I lost almost a year of data. Fortunately I had this chapter written and rewritten before, so I did not have to do it all again. There is just a small part I have to rewrite before it is finished.
> 
> On that note: As I said, I have edited this Part of the Series before and I still do not like it. So I apologize in advance if it is as terrible as I think.

_Ryan Wolfe let out a sigh as he climbed out of bed. Today was probably his last act as a CSI. He had been ordered to court to testify on his findings regarding the McMiller-case. It had been a week since he had last been at the lab and he missed it._  
_Making his way to the shower he could not help but wonder why Yelina had been so adamant that he’d wait for a few more days before he finally handed his application for Patrol in. He could do that but he really did not see any reason to do it. It was not as if a miracle was about to happen in the next few days. Showering and dressing up, Ryan checked his house throughout, before he grabbed his keys. He was just about to open the door, when the bell rang. Blinking in surprise, he pulled the door open. Staring at the person in front of him, he could not hide his surprise. He wondered what she was doing here. He noted the Car in his driveway – she did not strike him for the van type - , before looking back at her again._  
 _"Can I help you?”_  
 _She smiled at him, a small sad smile._  
 _“Can I come in?” She wanted to know. “I know you are in a hurry, but we could leave together. I just wanted to ask you something if that would be alright for you?”_  
 _Ryan could not help but frown at that. He had a bad feeling about it. How had she even got his address in the first place? Still he could not let her stand out here, could he?_  
 _Letting out a small sigh he stepped aside slightly._  
 _“Fine… I still have a few minutes.”_  
 _His gaze wandered to the clock in the hall. It was half past nine. He would have to leave in another ten minutes if he wanted to make it on time. Ryan turned around to walk back to his living room, when he felt a sharp prickling on his neck. His hand shot out towards the point, as he staggered forward. Blinking slightly, he could see the edges of his vision getting blurry. Someone grabbed his arm and kept him from falling. The person said something, but he could not understand anything. The last thought that crossed his mind before he lost consciousness was that he would be late._

\---

Horatio could not help to check his watch again. He knew it had only been a minute or two since the last time he looked at it, but he could not help himself. The redhead was standing in front of the Miami Dade Court House and was waiting for none other than his colleague Ryan Wolfe. He had hoped to talk to the younger man before the hearing started. After all he had gotten the official papers this morning that made him part of his team again. He had wanted to tell him, but apparently, he was running late. That in itself surprised Horatio. He was barely if ever late. Moreover, on an important date like this, he could hardly imagine the other men not showing up early.  
Fishing out his phone, he flipped it open, dialing Ryan Wolfe’s number. The phone kept ringing until it finally switched to mailbox. Frowning, Horatio flipped the phone shut and looked at his watch again. The hearing was going to start any minute now and there was still no Ryan Wolfe.  
“Lieutenant Caine? We are about to start.”  
He nodded at the woman with a sigh.  
“I will be there in a minute.”  
Walking to the reception he smiled slightly at the woman.  
“One of my colleagues seems to be running late. Could you let me know when he arrives?” he asked with a smile. After that he sent a quick message to Speed, telling him to try to get a hold on Wolfe too, before he entered the court.

 

It was a slow day at the lab, Speed had been finishing up some paperwork, when Horatio had contacted him and told him to get a hold on Ryan. The older man sounded almost worried. So Speed had picked up the phone and called Ryan’s home and cell phone, but there was no one picking up. Checking his messages, in case Horatio had gotten any news from him, he found nothing.   
Speed was about to call Wolfe again, when Eric entered the room.   
“Hey man, we got a robbery, called in by the neighbor. Let’s head out.”   
Shutting his phone, Speed nodded.   
“Ok, let’s go.”   
He pocketed his phone and grabbed the piece of paper he had scribbled Ryan Wolfe’s phone numbers on. He would call him from time to time. Now he had a crime scene to process first. The receptionist had been informed too, so that she would notify Horatio if anything came up while they were gone.

 

When they arrived at the condo, Yelina Salas was waiting for them. Her face was a stony mask as they approached her. Speed suddenly had a bad feeling about this case. A short look at Eric told him that he was thinking the same. His jaw was clenched and he straightened up slightly as they walked closer to her. Whatever it was it had to be bad news.   
“Anything we should know?” Eric asked upon seeing her and she nodded. Her whole posture was stiff and tense.   
“This is Wolfe’s place. He lives here.” She told them and Speeds eyebrow flew up.   
“Any sign of him?”   
Yelina shook her head.   
“His car is still parked out front, but he might be out anyway. We cannot be sure though.”   
This was not what he had hoped to hear. Then again he wasn’t sure what he had hoped to hear anyway. Looking uncomfortable Speed shrugged slightly.   
“H and I have been trying to get a hold on him since this morning. He was supposed to appear in court this morning for the McMiller-case and has yet to show up. The hearing started half an hour ago and we have been unable to reach him too.”   
If anything Yelina looked even more uncomfortable and worried.   
“This isn’t like him. He would not miss such an appointment and I also highly doubt that he would leave his house with his door open. This doesn’t look too good. It appears we have to consider him missing.”   
Speed nodded at that.   
“I need to call H.” he told them, as he stepped aside. It wasn’t what he had wanted to tell, but at least they knew why they had been unable to reach him.

 

Eric watched him for a moment, before he turned to Yelina.   
“No one saw anything?”   
She shook her head. “Most of the neighbors are at work. This was only reported now, because an old lady, who lives down the street, noticed the open door when she walked by and called it in, because no one was home.”   
“So basically we have no idea how long he might be missing, right? Only that it had to have happened sometime this morning…”   
Frowning, he picked up his kit.   
“I’d better get to work.”

 

It was not a secret that Eric had never been to fond of Ryan Wolfe ever since he had started in the lab. The shock about Speeds shooting and him barely surviving had been too fresh and this had felt too much like a replacement. Speed was not to be replaced. They had been told he would be fine, so he would come back to the lab, so Eric had been unable to understand why Horatio insisted on bringing in a new CSI. But now things were different. Not only had he been shocked to hear about the suspension, now the other CSI had gone missing. And no matter what he might have thought of him at one point, he would do his best to find him. And they needed to be quick about it.   
Eric began at the front yard. Whoever had done his must have had a car, as Wolfe’s car was still standing in the driveway. Any trace of what kind of car had been used could help them already.

 

Speed stepped around him, after he had finished his short phone call with Horatio and stepped into the hall of the apartment. The lieutenant had been far from pleased, naturally. He would do what he could to get out of there as soon as possible to help them. Meanwhile Eric and him were on their own. Calleigh was still on a seminar out of town and was not due back until tomorrow.   
Looking around the hall, Tim was surprised how organized everything was, but did not dwell on it, as he stepped further into the apartment. Something small and white caught his attention from the edge of his vision. Crouching down, he took out a pair of gloves and pulled them on, before he carefully picked up the syringe that had fallen halfway under the cabinet.   
“I guess I found out how they got him out of here.” He told Eric, as he held up the syringe, before he bagged it. “Wonder what they shot him up with…”   
There were too many possibilities for that. Especially since they had no idea what the reason behind the B&E was. Right now they could only assume that Ryan Wolfe was indeed still alive and their only clue was the missing of a body at the direct scene. Not especially a strong point to hang on to, but you had to take what you could.   
Getting up again, he looked at the blinking answering machine. Pressing the play button, he was not surprised to hear his own voice, as well as Horatio’s. He noted the times at which the calls had been made. It was likely that Wolfe had been missing by then already. Looking closer at the cabinet, Speed noticed the lack of keys. At how organized everything was, he was sure they would be here. So maybe he had taken them, getting ready to get out of the house, when it happened. For a moment he contemplated how long it might take to get to the court house from here.   
Turning away from the cabinet, Speed checked the rest of the hall, before he made his way further into the apartment. The kitchen was clean, spotless, and didn’t look as if anyone had been in here. Especially not in a hurry, he still checked it. When he entered the living room, Eric stepped up behind him.   
“It doesn’t look as if anyone has been in here,” he commented. “I will look upstairs.”   
Tim nodded, but he doubted that they would find anything. Shaking his head at his own thoughts, he went back to work.

\---- 

When Ryan came to his head was pounding and he had a weird taste in his mouth that made him want to run to the nearest bathroom and clean it out. Blinking a few times to clear his bleary eyes he found himself in a dark room, all windows covered up with cloth. He was tied to the wooden chair he was sitting on. For a moment he could not remembered what happened to get him into this situation, when it came back to him. He had been on his way to the court when she had shown up. He should have listened to his suspicions. She should not have known his address after all. It really should have set him off. But for some reason he simply had not believed that she would do anything. Maybe because he had seen how dejected she had been when they had found their daughters murderer. Now he knew better. But now was too late. Looking around he tried to find a clue about where he might be. This place seemed familiar, but he could not place it at all.   
This whole situation didn’t make sense to him anyway. He had no idea what she could possibly want from him.   
Looking up when the door opened, he smiled warily.   
“Hello, Mrs. McMiller.”   
Catherine McMiller stared at him with blank eyes, before she walked closer to him. There was an odd look on her face that he did not understand. Something between accusing and utter confusion.   
“This is all your fault,” she told him suddenly. “You took him away from me.”   
Ryan frowned slightly at her and shook his head.   
“Your husband is a bad man, Mrs. McMiller. Not only was he involved with drugs, he killed your daughters too, remember?”   
She shook her head violently and began walking back and forth in front of him. Ryan inwardly cursed himself for not keeping his mouth shut.   
“No, no, no, no, no. You framed him. Jeffrey would have never done anything like that. He hated drugs and he loved my babies. There was no way. No way. You framed him. They told me you did!” She was working herself into a frenzy, getting more agitated the more she talked and Ryan was sure that was a bad thing for him, yet he could not sit here and say nothing either. And she did not strike him as the violent type. She was just a very confused person at the moment. He needed to get out of here and she needed help.   
“Who said that, Mrs. McMiller?” he asked carefully.   
“His friends. They came by a few days after you arrested him. They told me everything and it made so much more sense. Jeffrey was a good man. He was a good father. You just did not know what had happened. So you needed someone you could lay the blame on.”   
Staring at her, he slowly shook his head. He almost could not believe she was the same woman, he had met back then. She had been so determined then. There was nothing left of that now.   
“You know that is not true, Mrs. McMiller,” he told her finally.   
She stopped for a moment and stared at him, her eyes were wide and crazy. And yet she looked like a woman in pain. Ryan almost felt pity for her. She probably knew that she was wrong, but she wanted to believe it so desperately that she blocked everything else out. It would not be permanent. Even if she managed to get what she wanted – and he knew she wouldn’t – the time would come where her consciousness came back with a vengeance. Ryan also had a general idea who Jeffrey McMiller’s friends might be. They probably had their very own reasons why they wanted him out. With the amount of drugs they had found in his car, he had to have pissed someone off with losing it. There was a lot of money locked away in an evidence lock up. Loosing that much would hurt. He did not look forward to meet these friends.


	2. Part II

Lieutenant Horatio Caine was not a happy man at the moment. One moment he had sat in court, to give his testimony concerning the evidence and the next he had to find out that one of his CSI was missing. Given, it was not as if Mr. Wolfe knew that he was back to being a part of the team yet, but that was only a little formality. Now he was talking to the judge explaining the situation to him. They did not know much, right now, they did not know why their CSI was missing, but he needed to get out of here. It almost surprised him when the hearing was postponed completely, but all he did was nod at the judge, before he made his way out. There was no time to waste after all.   
Calling up Yelina, Horatio made his way over to Ryan’s apartment.   
“Salas?”   
“Anything?” he simply asked, not even bothering with pleasantries.   
“I can’t talk for Speed and Eric, but it doesn’t look good. The neighbors were either away or did not see anything. It doesn’t look like a struggle took place either.”   
“I will be there shortly.” He told her in a calm, almost cold voice. This was not good at all.   
Yelina made a noise of agreement, before she hung up.

  
Getting out of his car, he walked over to her. Yelina gave him a tight smile.   
“Eric and Speed are almost finished.”   
He gave a small nod and looked around.   
“I have issued an order for the nearby traffic cams. The footage will be send over to the lab. Eric has found some tire tracks. They might help identify the car that had been here. There have been no signs of forced entry, it is possible that he opened the door to them.” Yelina looked at him for a moment, before she continued. “Do you want to talk to his uncle or should I do it?”   
Horatio shook his head slightly.   
“I’ll do it.”  


The first thing that happened when he stepped back in the lab was that the receptionist intercepted him, holding out a plain white envelope for him.   
“This was left here for you, sir.” She told him, as he took it. Frowning lightly, he opened it and pulled out the letter. The words were written in a fine, feminine scrawl. It was short, simple and the last thing he had wanted to read.

 

_If you want your CSI back alive, set Jeffrey McMiller free. You have 24 hours._

For a moment, Horatio simply looked at it and clenched his jaw. Looking back at the receptionist, he titled his head lightly.   
“Who left this here?"   
“A courier, I was skeptical because there was no post stamp on it, but he said that a woman had told him to bring this letter here and had paid him in cash. So he delivered it.”   
Nodding slowly, Horatio straightened up.   
“We might have to ask you a few questions about that later again.”   
Walking further into the lab, Horatio found Eric and Speed in the layout room, going through the evidence they had gathered. Both of them looked up, as he walked into the room. Handing the letter over to Speed, Horatio looked at the two CSI.   
“Take a look at this. And go over everything you found. I will talk to Mr. McMiller.”

 

Jeffrey McMiller had the nerve to smirk at him when he was walked into the room by the officers. His hands were still cuffed and he was wearing the normal orange jumpsuit any inmate would wear. He did look worse for wear, but he also knew something was going on. Jeffrey McMiller was not stupid after all. Horatio knew that too, as he sat down in front of him.   
“What is it I can do for you lieutenant? Any particular reason why you were so desperate to see me that you could not wait for the next hearing? I was surprised the first one got canceled anyway. Did something happen?”   
McMiller tried to look innocent, but it was painfully obvious that he was faking it. Must have had something to do with the smirk that just did not want to leave his place.   
“One of my CSI has gone missing.” Horatio told him, head titled to the side. “You would not know anything about that, would you?”   
“Me?” McMiller asked, “How would I know anything about that? I am in jail, after all. You should know, you put me here.”   
“I also know there are ways of communication, but that is beside the point.”   
“What is the point then?”   
Horatio looked at him sharply.   
“Why would anyone kidnap a CSI just so that they could free you?”   
McMiller frowned at that and Horatio was not sure if it was due to anger or simply because he really did not know.   
“Are you aware that your wife is most likely involved in this too somehow?”   
McMiller did not say anything; he simply stared at him and kept silent. Horatio noted that he did not even look surprised or even worried about the mentioning of his wife. Records had shown that despite her early anger she had talked to him after he had been incarcerated for a while. The meetings were sparse and very irregular, but still too often for someone who was supposed to be hated.   
“I don’t know how this is connected to you, but trust me, I will find out.”

 

The examination of the letter Horatio had given him had proven to be more frustrating than helpful. No fingerprints had been found on the letter itself, while several were on the envelope as expected. Ruling out the prints of Horatio and the receptionist, there were still two sets of other prints on it. Unfortunately none of them brought back any results and left him with nothing. The paper the letter had been written on was unremarkable too, not given them anything to go by. Documenting his results for H, he bagged the letter and took out the syringe to work on. Hoping it would give them some better clues.  
Eric had been matching the tire tracks, finding a match. By now he had an awfully long list of potential vehicles that might have been in front of Ryan’s house and was given the task to rule out as many of them as possible.

 

Ron Wolfe was anxiously sitting in front of him. He did not ask why he was here. Horatio had a good idea that he already knew.   
“Mr. Wolfe, I need to ask you a few questions. Please tell us anything, no matter how unimportant it might seem to you. We are doing everything we can to find Ryan as soon as possible.” He told him.   
The other man simply nodded wringing his hands nervously.   
“Did he ever say anything about feeling watched or someone trying to hurt him in the last few weeks?”   
Mr. Wolfe shook his head.   
“No, he never mentioned anything like that to me, when we talked. And I don’t know anyone who would want to hurt him, either.”   
“When was the last time you talked to him?”   
“Last Sunday. We had dinner together, but everything was normal. There was nothing to worry about.”   
“Thank you. We will tell you as soon as we know something.”  


Time was nearly none existent in the room. He had a vague feeling of day and night due to the light still filtering into the room, but he had no way of knowing how long he had been here now. All he knew was that it was getting darker outside. So he really had been here several hours. It did not help that it already felt like days. After Mrs. McMiller had left him, there had been nothing for him to do at all. The room was uncomfortable warm and by now he was tired, thirsty and hungry and wanted to stand up very badly. As a matter any kind of movement in his arms or legs would be appreciated, but he had a feeling that he would be in that position for quite some time. At least if they had anything to say about it. For a while Ryan had wondered if there would be anyone searching for him, but due to his absence at the court Horatio would be sure to contact him. Had they noticed he was missing? Were there searching for him? Thousands of questions were running through his mind and he knew that he would never find the answers. He was sure they were looking for him. And they would find him eventually. Horatio and his team were good. Ryan wished he had a clue what Mrs. McMiller wanted with him. It wasn’t as if him being here would get her husband out of prison. He was not the only one who had worked on this case after all and each and every one of them would be able to give a recollection of what had happened. He wondered what Mr. McMiller’s so called friends wanted. He wouldn’t really imagine that they were really only intend on getting McMiller out. They most likely wanted their money back, one way or the other. Yet there was no way he would be of any use for them concerning that. So he really did not understand it at all. He would have to wait and see what they wanted from him. A part of him was actually hoping that they needed him for something. This way they would at least have a reason to keep him around. He didn’t want to think what might happen when they decided they did not need them anymore. He knew at least one of the people who had trapped him here.   
Shaking his head, he closed his eyes. He needed to think about something else. He was going to drive himself mad if he kept going through all the possible outcomes of this. But with nothing but the sound of his own breathing to keep him company it was hard to distract himself.

  
When Catherine McMiller walked through the door again, he was almost glad. At least he was not alone with his thoughts anymore. And she was actually carrying a glass of water, which he sincerely hoped was for him. His throat was achingly dry. She stopped a few steps away from him and he could not decipher the look she was giving him. There was nothing said and after a moment she walked towards him and pressed the glass to his lips. This time Ryan actually felt grateful, as the cool liquid ran down his throat.   
“They will be here soon,” she told him in a distant voice. “They will know what to do. They are going to bring Jeffrey back to me. You cannot keep him away from me.”   
Ryan said nothing and simply looked at her; she was not even looking at him. She was staring at something in the distance that only she could see. He pitied her and that made everything so much worse. She would be no help at all, neither to whoever it was that was coming over, nor to him. It was a surprise that she had kept herself long together long enough to actually drug him. Ryan had a strong suspicion that she had help with that. It was clear that someone else had planned all this and they most likely made sure that she would not mess up her part. 

 

There had been a single fingerprint on the syringe. Other than that they had only gotten some residue from whatever it had been that was inside of it. While testing the residue he let the fingerprint run through the database and he was not all that surprised when a match was found between the print that had been left on the syringe with one of the prints that had been found on the envelope. Unfortunately, it didn’t get them any closer to finding their suspect. The print had not otherwise been found in the database, leaving them with no name. So for not it was not getting them any closer to finding the missing CSI.

 

She left him again without saying another word, but he was surprised when she came back soon after. This time she was accompanied by two men. They were both rather tall and broad he noticed. One of them had cut his hair in military stile and dressed the part, while the other looked almost wild in comparison with his Bermuda shorts, bright shirt and untamed short curly hair. But there was another thing they both had in common. They did not look like people who beat around the bush. They were not here to play. Suddenly Ryan wished he was back in the silence, at least that way he had only to fear about losing his mind. Now he was not too sure about what life had in store for him. The only thing he could be sure about was that he most likely would not like it.  
"So you are the one that caught Jeff, hm?” the bright guy asked as he looked him up and down. “Wasn’t your smartest move.”   
Ryan couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow at that, but he chose to stay silent. There was no need to provoke anyone by letting his mouth run away with him.   
“Got us into real trouble with that. And the poor missus. Just because you decided he was a bad person.”   
There was a fake sadness in his voice, as he walked closer to him. The other guy had stayed near the door and Mrs. McMiller looked almost lost as she stood between them. Ryan still chose to be quiet.   
“Don’t want to talk to us? That’s ok. There is no need for you to talk at all. You are just going to help us bring some justice into this world. That’s what you are supposed to do after all, right?”   
Bright guys smile had turned chilling and Ryan had a hard time not to shudder. He wanted to tell them that there was no way he would actually be able to help them, but his self-preservation told him to keep quiet. He was getting more and more nervous as it was and it wouldn’t do him any good if they saw how much this was shaking him.   
“Give me back my husband!” Mrs. McMiller screeched suddenly, turning all attention to her. She was staring at Ryan with wide eyes and he could not help but shake his head slightly.   
“Don’t worry, Catherine. Everything is on his way. Jeffrey will be back with you very soon. We won’t let those guys do as they please. We promised you, right?”   
Bright guys tone had an unmistaken warning in it and Ryan could see the fear that was flashing through her eyes for a moment. He wondered where it came from.   
“Of course…” Her voice was silent and she looked down now.   
It was clear to Ryan now that bright guy was pulling all the strings in this, but that did not really help him either. He would just have to be especially careful when it came to that person, but in the end it would only be a small help for him. There was just no way he was getting out of this.

  
When bright guy and his buddy came back it was in the middle of the night. Ryan had been drifting on and out of sleep for a while. His position did not let him sleep for long, and really he did not want to, but the silence around him was lulling him back to sleep again and again.   
Ryan looked up tiredly as they walked in. They were looking far from pleased. Ryan could feel his panic rising, as they came straight for him. The military guy produced a knife – Ryan had really no idea where it had come from, but he wished it had stayed there – biting his lover lip, he shivered as they came closer. He wanted to squeeze his eyes shut, so that he did not have to see at least, but that was like admitting to them that he had lost and he was not yet willing to do that. So he stared as military guy came closer. Ryan did not know what he had expected; to be cut loose really was not it. He did not even have a chance to react as he was hoisted up roughly. Bright guy forced a bag over his head so that he could not see anything, before they led him out of the room. The panic Ryan had been feeling was cursing through his veins. He had no idea where they were taking him, but that was not a good sign at all. He stumbled and staggered between them until he was shoved into a car. He heard the doors slammed shut as the two men got into the car too and started driving. For a moment Ryan wished he could see, even if he knew that knowing where they were going would not really help him. He could only hope that Horatio and the others would find him in time.  


Ryan had no idea how long they had been driving. All he knew was that it had taken them quite some time to get to their destined location. He felt his heart sink at the thought of that. When the car stopped he was grabbed roughly and shoved into some kind of building. Ryan let out a small noise of distress as he was shoved into a chair again and new ropes were tight around his wrists, torso and ankles, rendering him unable to move again.   
When they finally yanked the bag off his head, he squeezed his eyes shut with a hiss at the sudden light that penetrated his eyes. Blinking a few times, he could see that he was in some kind of shack. It looked run down and very, very dusty and literally made his skin crawl. “So… let’s get down to business, shall we?” bright guy said with a sadistic smile on his face as he walked closer. Ryan could not help but shiver.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... Part 2. Still not happy about it. Well there are 2 more to go that are finished and will be uplopaded during the week, probably.


	3. Part III

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First of all I want to apologize for taking so long to update. Unfortunately I can't even promise it won't happen again.
> 
> I thank all of you for your awesome comments and kudos. They make my day.
> 
> Anyway I hope you enjoy this chapter.

When Catherine McMiller sat in front of Horatio and it was clear to see that she was nervous and distracted by something. Her eyes darted around the room and she was wringing her hands constantly.  
“Mrs. McMiller. I am very sorry to call you here so suddenly, but there are a few questions, we would like you to answer.”  
Mrs. McMiller gave him a fleeting smile, before she nodded her head.  
“Of course, lieutenant.”  
“One of our CSI has been gone missing yesterday.” He told her. “He was supposed to be part of your husband’s trial that morning and now we got notice that whoever did this wants your husband released. Do you have any idea who would want to get him out so badly?”  
She wasn't looking at him as she shrugged her shoulders.  
“I don't know. I haven't talked to him. And I didn't know any of his contacts.”  
Horatio frowned at that. It was clear that there was something she wasn't telling him and he could not help but wonder what had happened to the resolute woman who had been so determined to find the person who had killed her twin daughters.  
“Would you give us your prints, so we can be sure that you had nothing to do with it?”  
For a moment she looked like she was going to refuse, but then she gave him a strained smile and nodded in Agreement.  
“Of course.”

 

When Horatio had come back with Mrs. McMiller's prints Speed had immediately started to run them against everything they had found so far. From the moment they got the note there had been a strong suspicion that she was involved in this case somehow and now they had finally confirmation. The prints on the syringe and the envelope had come back as a match to her. Fowning slightly, Speed took the results and gave them to Horatio.  
"So she was involved, as we had thought. I will get a warrant for her home. It is time we take a closer look at her."

 

Horatio gripped his sunglasses tightly, as he waited for the door to open. His whole posture was tense. Speed and Calleigh were standing behind him, exchanging a short look before focusing on the door again. When Calleigh had walked in for work that morning, they had given her a heads up of what had happened while she was gone. The print had come back das Mrs. McMiller’s. The syringe had contained traces of temazepan, usually found in sleeping pills. It was shortly after that when they had made their way over to Mrs. McMiller’s house.  
It had been a few hours and almost a day since they had gotten the letter and while there was no doubt that they could not meet the demands it also made everything more complicated. While it was almost a blessing to finally have a lead this put them on a tighter schedule. At least they could be fairly certain that Ryan was still alive, then again the deadline was about to expire. There was no telling what would happen then.

Horatio looked up when the door finally opened. Mrs. McMiller looked disheveled, tired and just a little bit scared when she saw them. He fixed her with a penetrating stare.  
“Hello Mrs. McMiller,” he began, as he handed her the warrant. “We have permission to search this place, if you would please step outside?”  
She was staring at the paper in her hand and Horatio could see her hands shaking. When she looked up again, there was something akin to panic in her eyes, yet she said nothing as she stepped in front of the house and let Calleigh and Eric walk past her.  
“What is this about, lieutenant?” she asked him.  
Catherine McMiller shifted nervously, not looking at him.  
“What has this got to do with me?”  
“Where were you this morning, Mrs. McMiller? You did not attend the trial either. And we found evidence that you were in his house.”  
She shifted again, still looking anywhere but at him and said nothing. She did not even make any excuses for herself. Horatio stared at her with hard eyes. He was sure they would find evidence here that would tie her even deeper to this.

“H!” Eric called from the house, making the lieutenant look up sharply. He gestured one of the officers that had accompanied them to watch after Mrs. McMiller, as he walked into the house.  
“What is it Eric?”  
The Cuban was standing at the top of the stairs, looking deadly serious. That was not a good sign.  
“There is something you should see.”  
Nodding slowly, Horatio made his way up the stairs to stop next to him. The door of the room, Eric gestured too was wide open and even without stepping in Horatio could see the dark sheets hanging over the windows and the chair sitting in the center of the room. There were cut ropes lying at the feet of it and no sign of Ryan Wolfe.  
“Cover every inch of this room, every little bit can help.”  
Eric nodded in agreement and continued with his work.  
Horatio stared at the room for a moment longer, before he made his way downstairs again.  
Calleigh was in the bathroom, looking at different description bottles. Turning around she held up a small bottle for him to see.  
“Apparently Mrs. McMiller was having trouble sleeping. It has the same substances as the substance found in the syringe we found in Ryan’s apartment. I’ll have to test it, but there is a good chance that this was used to get him here.”  
“Good. If you are finished downstairs go help Eric. Make sure you two get everything.”

 

When Horatio walked outside again, Catherine McMiller’s statue slumped down a little. She knew what they had found. She knew she could not hide any longer.  
“Where is he?” Horatio asked her directly. Mrs. McMiller refused to look up and simply shrugged.  
“I do not know.”  
Horatio frowned at her and looked up at the officer. He had a few things he wanted to tell her, but he held himself in check.  
“Take her. We will continue the questioning at the station.”  
The officer nodded and cuffed Mrs. McMiller’s hands behind her back.  
“This way…”  
The redhead watched with a sinking feeling as they drove away. They were no further to finding Mr. Wolfe. For now they could only hope that they would find some clue here and that Mrs. McMiller would be able to tell them something of use. Time was against them. Fishing his phone out of the pocked, Horatio dialed a number and waited for a moment, before it was picked up.  
“Speed, I got a job for you…”

 

Someone out there must really, really hate him, Speed decided. Not only had he worked on the letter that had turned out to have no value information for them at all, now he was stuck in the lab looking at footage of traffic cams. He knew it was important to find any clue about where Ryan could be, but why did it have to be him again, who had to look at all the tapes? Speed was glad that he had help in form of two officers and Jensen, but it was still tiring to look at the screen for what seemed like hours without ever seeing anything. Hell, they were not even sure what they were looking for in the first place.

From the tire tracks they had found at Ryan’s place they had been able to establish what kind of vehicle had been used. Still, looking for that type of van without knowing anything else was not really helping.

“I got something for you.” Yelina walked in with a file in hand. “I looked into it and Mrs. McMiller rented a black Explorer yesterday morning. She returned it in the afternoon. I talked to the leasing agent and the car will be brought back here soon. Asking around in her neighborhood we were told that a red car had been parked outside her house frequently. It was unusual as they had never seen this car before and knew that Mrs. McMiller usually did not drive herself. I ran the plates, but the car had been reported missing a week ago. Still you might be able to find something.”  
She handed them each a file with a description and picture of the car model as well as the license plates.  
“I hope that helps.”She gave a small smile, but it was strained. “I will let you know when the car is here. Horatio and the others are still at the scene?”  
“Yeah,” Speed told her. “They should be back soon though.”  
“Then let us hope they found something useful, hm?”  
Speed nodded in agreement and turned back to the screen in front of him. At least now he knew what he was looking for.

 

Ryan had been surprised then they had started questioning him about the drugs. Bright guy was also obviously not one of those hands on guys, so that he was fine except for the nasty headache he had gotten from all the times, he had used his hair to yank his head around in whatever way he seemed fit. Unfortunately they seemed to think that all he had to do to help him was walk into the lab and get the drugs out. Ryan wondered if they had seen too many bad movies. It wasn’t as if the drugs were stored in the lab and even if they were it was impossible for him to go in and out with them. Especially with the amount they had found in Mr. McMiller’s car. This was not their field to play in. So it wasn’t as if there was any way he would help them. And he doubted that they would be stupid enough to let him walk in any distance of anything police related. They just wanted him to tell them what he knew. Ryan wondered how long it would take them to figure out for themselves that he could not help them. Not that wanted to anyway.  
“Just tell us what we need to know and we will let you go.”  
He knew that was a lie. He had seen their faces. Even if he did not know their names, it wasn’t as if a wanted poster could not help to catch them. And while they were not the sharpest tools in the shed, he was sure that even they could figure that out.


	4. Part IV

Catherine McMiller did not know what to do as she sat into the interrogation room. She was shivering slightly, wondering what was going to happen to her. She knew that she had done something wrong, but she only wanted her husband back. Was that so hard to understand? She could not live without him and as she had told Ryan Wolfe; she was sure he would have never hurt her children. It just could not be. She could not have been mistaken about him. Not like that. Jeffrey was a good man. He had taken care of her. Now, sitting in this interrogation room, she began to doubt again. This was not right, was it? It could not be what he wanted for her. Jeffrey loved her, he never would have wanted for her to be put into such a dangerous situation. She was sure of that, but now it was too late.  
Flinching, as the door opened, Lieutenant Caine walked in and he looked far from pleased. Sitting down he stared at her. Catherine shifted uncomfortably in her chair looking anywhere but at the lieutenant; even then she could still feel his stare.  
“There was someone visiting you regularly after your husband was arrested, Mrs. McMiller. Who was that?”  
“My husband’s friends.”  
“And do these friends have names, Mrs. McMiller?”  
“Stephen and Max,” she told him, with slight hesitation. His voice had sounded so hard, so unlike anything she had heard from him.  
“Do they have last names?”  
She shrugged.  
“They never told them to me.” She admitted quietly.  
“Had you ever even seen them before that day?” he sounded irritated and Catherine could not help but feel ashamed for herself.  
“No.”  
There was a tense silence, before Lieutenant Caine spoke again.  
“Were they at your house today?”  
Catherine contemplated not answering. She knew the two were far from good people, yet she had trusted them blindly, but really, what was going to happen to her if she ever went against them? She did not want to find out, but lying to the lieutenant would get her into deeper trouble too.  
Contemplating what was most likely worse, she let out a sigh.  
“Yes,” she finally said. “They were at my house.”  
“Where did they take Mr. Wolfe?” the sharp edge was there, biting and she shifted uncomfortably.  
“I don’t know.”  
He glared at her, not saying anything, but she was sure that he did not believe her.  
“I’m serious, I don’t know. They took him when they left, but I don’t know where they went. They never told me and I never asked. They just said that everything would be alright again…” She trailed off at that. “What is going to happen to me?”  
Lieutenant Caine looked at her with an impassive Expression.  
“That depends on how much you will help us. Kidnapping is not a simple crime. There is also the fact that you were involved in this with more than just giving them a place to stay. You helped them and you cannot sit here and tell me you knew nothing about it. All you can do right now is help us find him. So tell us everything you know.”  
She shifted again.  
“I can’t. There is nothing I can tell you…”  
“What are they planning?”  
“I don’t know. They told me they would bring justice and that they would get Jeffrey out of prison. I just wanted him to come back home. They told me that you framed him, that he was innocent.”  
She shook her head slightly.  
“I just wanted him to come home,” she said in a small voice.  
“That man killed your children, Mrs. McMiller. And believe me, everything we said was true. We did not frame anyone.”  
Catherine let out a sigh and nodded.  
“Yes I know.”  
“Do you remember their faces? Would you be able to help us create a facial composite?”  
She nodded slowly.  
“I think I can do that.”

 

Eric was half watching as the pictures Mrs. McMiller had helped create were run through the facial recognition, while he was working on the ropes they had found in Mrs. McMiller’s house.  
Calleigh was running the sleeping pills that they had found and Speed was still watching security footage. The atmosphere in the whole lab was tense. Alexx was making an appearance ever so often, talking to Horatio. She did not like that there was nothing she could do to help them, on the other hand she was glad that she had nothing to do with this case. She did not want one of their own on her table. With Speed they had just very barely evaded that.  
Extracting some skin cells from the rope, Eric to work on the DNA comparison. Maybe they would find something there too, but right now he only wanted to know who the guys were that had taken Wolfe with them.

A pinging noise got his attention and he put the ropes aside carefully. Walking over to the monitor, he couldn't help but smile in satisfaction. Two matches. He printed them and put the ropes back in their evidence back and sealed it, so that he could work on them later, before he walked out of the room, folder in hand.

  
He had just entered Horatio’s office to tell him about his findings, when Calleigh and Speed walked into the office two, also a holding a folder each.  
Horatio looked at them with mild bemusement, as he got up.  
“What have you found?”  
Looking at each other, Calleigh shrugged and took a step forward to hand Hortatio the envelope.  
“Nothing we did not already suspect. The pills match the residue that was left in the syringe. She used her sleeping pills to get him out of the house.”  
“We found the stolen car, coming and going to the house two times yesterday. The first time was around midday. Probably after they send the letter. They left shortly after and returned around two in the morning. The car left again a couple of minutes later and drove off into a different direction than it had before. We are trying to find out where they were heading,” was what Speed had to say and Eric could not help and grin as he handed Horatio his folder too.  
“And we know who they are now. Vincent Stephens and Christopher Maxwell, not the most creative guys in history.”  
Horatio looked at them and nodded.  
“Try to find out if they have any property where they could have taken Mr. Wolfe.”

 

He had been unable to tell them anything. Just like he had predicted it would be. When they realized that the light beating they had given him, was doing nothing but leave him bruised and aching they had stopped almost immediately. For a moment Ryan wasn't sure if he should be grateful that they weren't trying to use more violence which may end up in broken bones, or worry about what they were going to do next. Even with their constant screaming at him and each other and all the questions that were giving him a serious headache, he had no idea what their plan was now. They had left him a few minutes ago and Ryan had heard how they had driven away. Groaning slightly, he looked closer at the Shack it was in. The only window the run down thing had was barricaded with planks in a very sloppy fashion. The planks had been randomly attached to the frame and there was more light coming in then was kept out. The chair they had tied him to and an old oak table that was covered in dust and spider webs were the only furniture. It was obvious that no one had been here for quite some time. That also meant that no one would come here soon either. Aside from them anyway.

Letting out a sigh, he tried to shift into a slightly more comfortable position and closed his eyes, willing himself not to think about where he was. He needed to stay as calm as possible. Ryan had no idea where the two of them might have gone to, but he knew that they had been far from happy. Now he could only hope that they would not be back too soon. Maybe Horatio and the others would be able to find him, before they came back. That would be favorable right now. Yet Ryan knew there was nothing for him to do but wait. He had to believe that someone would find him.

 

“We checked all the records for them and possible relatives and came up with two possible locations. Since they were heading towards the outskirts of the city, it could only be those two.” Eric showed the locations on the maps. “Those are very remote places too. Hardly anyone passes by there and if they do they most likely won’t look at old – most likely down lived – houses. So they would be good places to hide someone you do not want to be found.”  
The others were staring at the map with him, they knew this could also mean that they might only find a Body.  
“Speed you come with me, we will check out this one.” Horatio tapped on the map, before he turned to the other two CSI. “Calleigh, Eric I want you to check out the second location.”  
The two nodded in Agreement.  
“Let’s go.”

 

Ryan had heard the car for quite some time, before it actually arrived at its location. With the lack of city noise it was easy. He had closed his eyes and listened closely. The two had gotten out of the car, but had yet to walk in.  
“We can’t do that. He’s our only leverage. They got the missus and you don’t really think that she will stay silent, do you? She might not know who we are, but she will tell them everything she knows about us, including what we look like. They can find us and without the money, it will not exactly be easy to get out here.”  
“We can’t let him go either. He’s seen our faces too. And then they will get us anyway.”  
“You idiot! They most likely already know who we are. As long as we have him, we hold something against them. They would not like for us to shoot him after all.”  
“Which we are going to do anyway, so why wait?”  
“We might be doing it later, but if they want confirmation that he’s alive we won’t have any if we shoot him now. Might as well kill our whole plan.”  
Ryan bit his lower lip and wondered how that argument might turn out. At the moment he really hoped that bright guy would keep the reigns. That would at least keep him alive a bit longer.  
“Screw this. I say shoot him and bail. We can get out of here. We’ll have to lay low and turn up the pace, but at least we really get out. If we keep him and try to ransom him, they will just try to trick us anyway. As if they would give us money, without trying to catch us somehow.”  
There was a moment of silence.  
“You are probably right…”  
Ryan felt himself pale, as he stared at the door with wide eyes. He was screwed.

 

Horatio nodded at Speed, as they walked to the door. There was no car in sight, but that must not mean anything. The officers that had accompanied them fanned around the house, to make sure that no one could escape. Listening for any sound, Hortatio pushed the door open, gun drawn.  
“Miami Dade Police!”  
The room was empty. There was not a single sound, still they kept their weapons drawn as they made their way through the house, checking every room. There was a mixture of anger and worry on Horatio’s face as he put his gun away.  
“They are not here.”  
Speed walked up to him and let out a sigh.  
“Let’s hope Calleigh and Eric have more luck.”

 

Ryan was panicking. He did not want to die. Trying to shift in his chair and move in anyway proves futile, but he could not stop. Winding his body around as much as he could and ignoring the pain that shot through him from time to time, he tried to get free somehow. It was impossible.

For a moment he thought he heard cars approaching, but he was sure that was just his overactive imagination trying to play tricks on him. Nothing but wishful thinking. What were the odds that they would find him now?

“Shit! There’s someone coming. Let’s get out of here.” Bright guy shouted and he heard them stumbling around in their panic. One of them was climbing in the car while the other on – military guy obviously - was running towards the door.  
“We need to finish this first!” he screamed.

There was the faint sound of sirens and military guy stopped and hesitated for a moment until bright guy was starting the motor and obviously very prepared to leave his buddy out here if staying meant that he would be caught by the police.

“Hey, wait…”

Military guy scrambled towards the car and he must have made it, as he heard the door slam shut, before the tires screeched pitifully as they tried to speed out of there. The car drove off and the sirens grew louder until a couple of police cars passed by too. At least one car was stopping though and Ryan could feel the relieve run through his body. He was getting out of here. They had really found him.

He relaxed even further, when the door opened and Calleigh walked through the door, with Eric right behind her.  
“Ryan!” she exclaimed as she saw him. “Thank god we found you. Are you alright?”  
He smiled slightly at her and nodded.  
“I’m alright, a bit bruised and I will be glad to be able to move my arms, quite frankly. But man, am I glad to see you guys.”  
They were grinning at him, as Calleigh walked forward and cut him loose, mindful of the evidence. Eric appeared at is side a second later and helped him up.  
“Let’s get you out of here.”

 

“Caine? Good… Get him to the lab. We will meet you there.”  
Speed looked at him out of the corner of his eyes as Horatio closed his phone.  
“The others?” he asked.  
“Yes. They found Mr. Wolfe. They are bringing him back to the lab now. Our two friend were picked up by patrol too. They had tried to flee the scene.”  
“That’s good.” Speed said, letting out a sigh of relieve. “That’s really good.”

 

 

The moment he had walked back into the lab, they had handed him an envelope. For a moment, Horatio had a bad feeling, before he reminded himself, that Mr. Wolfe had been found and was on his way back to the lab. Thanking the young woman at the reception, he made his way over to his office, closing the door behind him, before he opened the envelope.

A small smile set itself upon his face, as he looked at the paper in front of him. The official notification of his custody over Madison. Suzie had made it. He hoped that she would be able to relax now, that her worst fear had been taken from her. She needed her strength after all and he sincerely hoped that she would be able to still be with Madison for a long time. He knew it was a futile hope, that there was not much time left for her, but that only made every second more precious.

 

Ryan was glad he had the chance to take a quick shower and change in some spare clothes that Eric had given him, before the questioning started. Calleigh had brought him something to eat and drink for which he was grateful. Now he just wanted to sleep for a week or so, but at first he would tell them everything that had happened and everything he knew, no matter how little it might be. Every little bit counted for something after all. Now he was finished recollecting everything to Calleigh and just about ready to head home. But then Horatio walked in.  
“Hello, Mr. Wolfe.” He greeted him and Ryan gave a nod in return. He was not sure what to say to the redhead at all. He had not really talked to him after their last short phone call after all.  
“How are you feeling?” the lieutenant asked as he sat down.  
“Fine, nothing a good night’s sleep will not fix.”  
Horatio nodded and simply looked at him for a moment, before he leaned Forward.  
“Mr. Wolfe, Ryan, there is something else we need to talk about. After we talked, I became aware that someone had decided to relieve you from duty against my consultation. Now… I do not know what he told me, or why you did not talk to me about it, but I just want you to know that that was not on my agenda.” He titled his head slightly to the side as he looked at the younger man. “As a matter of fact, I had it revoked. So… If you are still interested to work for me,…”  
“Are you serious?” Ryan stared at him with wide eyes before he grinned. “Gladly. I would gladly work here again.”  
“Well then,” Horatio said with a smile. “Welcome back, Mr. Wolfe.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... another Part of the Series is finished. I hope I will be able to write the next Part of the Series this month.


End file.
